Sidney Rigdon

Sidney Rigdon (19 February 1793-14 July 1876) was a Mormon leader and the head of the Pennsylvania-based "Rigdonite" sect after Joseph Smith's death.

Biography
Sidney Rigdon was born in St. Clair Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania in 1793, and a childhood injury damaged his intellectual exertions and caused a contusion of the brain. In 1817, he was baptized in the local Baptist church, and he received his preaching license in 1819. In 1819, he moved to Trumbull County, Ohio, and he returned to Pittsburgh in 1822. In 1823, after a schism within the First Baptist Church, Rigdon was excluded from the Redstone Association Baptist Denomination, and he worked as a journeyman tanner from 1824 to 1826. In 1830, after his assistant Parley P. Pratt converted to Mormonism, Rigdon followed in his footsteps and became a Mormon, rising to a leadership role within the LDS Church.

Rigdon claimed to have received visions jointly with Mormon leader Joseph Smith, with whom he was tarred and feathered in Ohio in 1832 for his religious views. Soon, Smith and Rigdon developed a rivalry, as Rigdon exalted himself and sought to become the new Mormon leader. After he repented, he was ordained a priest a second time, and Rigdon and Jesse Gause became Smith's first two counselors. In 1837, he supported the construction of the Kirtland Temple and was the president of the Kirtland Bank, which failed not long after it started. In 1838, the two men established a new church headquarters in Far West, Missouri, and he preached several controversial sermons that led to a three-month war with Missouri settlers and militiamen that same year. In 1841, Rigdon became a "Prophet, Seer, and Revelator" after Smith founded the city of Nauvoo, Illinois, but renewed friction between Rigdon and Smith led to Rigdon having a minimal administrative role. Rigdon did not settle in Nauvoo, instead serving in a local church presidency in Pittsburgh. In 1844, however, Smith chosed Rigdon as his running mate for the United States presidential election, 1844. Smith was murdered that same year, and Rigdon claimed that he had received a revelation that he should succeed Smith. Brigham Young denied this, and he convinced the elders of the LDS Church to reject Rigdon's claim. Rigdon instead led the LDS Church's "Rigdonite" sect in Pennsylvania and New York until his death in 1876.